M. 



THE 



OLD STREETS 

OP 

NEW YORK 

UNDER THE DUTCH 




A PAPER READ BEFORE THE 



y,. 



June 2, 1874, 



JAMES W. GERARD, 



NEW YORK: 
DOUGLAS TAYLOU, LAW, BOOK AND JOB rRINTEIl, 

Commercial Advertiser Binldins;, cor. Pulton and Ndssftu Sts 

1874 



.67 



^/^i.(>7.^^^ 



By tratiBfei 

UGT 25 1915 



V 



V 



x 



Mr. President and Gentlemen 

OF THE Historical Society : 

In venturing to present a sketch of some of the old 
streets and people of Xew York, under the Dutch rule, it 
may be well, lirst, to glance at antecedent discoveries and 
settlements in the region by other nations. 

Awaking from the sleep of the middle ages, the aroused 
energy of the Euroi^ean mind, towards the close of the 
fifteenth century, developed itself in geographical as well 
as scientific research. 

Long intellectual slumber had created a rest which 
wearied as well as dwarfed. 

The invention of printing had distributed knowledge no 
longer hoarded in cloisters. Improvements in the use of 
gunpowder tended to subdue caste, and give intellectual as 
well as civil freedom and vigor. 

No longer content with dogmas and traditions, man 
yearned to break local boundaries and forms — to expand, to 
learn, to discover. 

Marco Paulo's travels had instigated a thirst for adven- 
ture ; and men's minds were still excited by stories of the 
wealth and wonders of Cathay and Oopango. 

The art of navigation had been improved under the 
leadership of Prince Henry, the Navigator. 



2Tew maps were pltinned. New enterprises stimulated 
the ambitiou of the curious or the avaricious. The great 
problem of the earth was still unsolved. Tlie earth! man's 
abode and man's study. What was it ? What were its 
limits ? 

Pytha<'oras had claimed its rotundity in the mystic days 
of history. Still, the f^rce of habit and tlic inertia of 
ignorance kept concert with error. 

The scholastic world still dreamed its old dreams, and 
wrapped itself in its cloak of Aristotle. C.rcumnavigation 
was impossible. 

Columbus, however, at the close of the tifteenth century, 
made the egg stand on its end, and rediscovered the North- 
men's lost continent. Tlie shade of Pythagoras triumphed 
through the Genoese. 

Geography vindicated her sister astronomy, and the 
world tras round. 

The Portuguese, now roused in ri\alry, vigorously attacked 
Eastern realms. Barthalamy Diaz had theretofore reached 
the southern point of Africa; and Vasco deGania, in 1497, 
in searching tor the realms of Prester. John, cariied the Por- 
tuguese dag around the African continent, which Pha- 
raoh's vessels had done for the Egyi)tian flag over 2,000 
years before. 

The wealth of either Indies now lay open. Unknown 
El Dorados awaited adventure. Spaniard and Portuguese 
fiercely elaimed the prize of the unknown earth. 

Alexander W. adjudged the great process. 

The geographical bulls of 149;] and 1500 made the division 
for all i)rospective discovery. 



A line from pole to pole was to divide the iufidel world 
between the two most holy navigating powers, who vigor- 
ously set to work to utilize the prize. 

Magellan, for Spain, in 1519, passed through the straits 
that bear his name, and circumnavigated the globe. 

The Portuguese culled rich productions from Ceylon and 
the Moluccas, the Persian Gulf, and the coast of Coro- 
mandel ; while Cortes and Pizarro tilled galleons that bore 
golden fruit to Spain from Mexico and Peru. 

Meanwhile the bleak northern coasts lay uncared for. 
The gold of southern seas and the spicy treasures of the 
East kept enterprise from them. 

England had, in 1497, felt the geographical impulse, and 
nobly closed the discoveries of the fifteenth century. 

The great problem of the day — the northwest passage to 
India and Cathay through the northern seas (snice fruit- 
lessly found by McChire) — turned Henry YII. from affairs 
of State to win laurels in the new field of geographical re- 
search. The Cabots commissioned by him cruised along 
the North Americau coast from Labrador to Florida. 

Hence England's exclusive claim to the entire country, 
from these glimpses of the coast by the Cabots. 

French fishermen now began to swarm on the New- 
foundland Banks, and found there an El Dorado of their 
own, in savage contrast with Cortez' and Pizarro's sunny 
conquests. 

In 1524, the French appear upon the scene of discovery ; 
and Verrazano carried the French flag from 3G^ to 50^ of 
north latitude, and named the coast. 

Anchoring his ship oft' The Narrows, in our harbor, as it 



6 



is supposed froiu his description, the Italian, in his shallop, 
entcicd our hay. 

He says, in his letter to King Francis : " We found a 
" very pleasant situation among some steep hills, through 
"wliicli a very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its 
" way to the sea. We passed up the river about half a 
" league, wlien we found it formed a most beautiful lake 
" three leagues in circuit. All of a sudden a violent, con- 
" trary wind blew in from the sea, and forced us to return 
" to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region, which 
" seemed so commodious and delightful." 

Th(^ first of civilized men, Verrazano gazed upon the 
virgin' beauties of our isle, " Manhatta," then slumbering 
in primeval innocence, — ere long, under the magic hand of 
civilization, to rise and ripen into stately magnificence, the 
Queen City of the Hemisphere. 

Estevan Gomez, with his Spaniards, succeeded Veraz- 
zaiio in the exploration of our bay, and named the North 
liivcr, San Antonio; after him, also, called on some 
ancient charts, Kio de Gomez. 

We next read of Oartier on the St. Lawrence, and For- 
bisher and (}ilb(;rt in Labrador and Xewfoundland ; and of 
Kaleigh's colonies at the South, and of Gosnold's failures 
on the Massachusetts coast, and of King James's sweeping- 
patents to the London and Plymouth companies, embrac- 
ing territory from Cape Fear to Nova Scotia. 

Then of settlements by the Plymouth Company on the 
Sagadahoc in Maine, whence the adventurous colonists 
are soon driven homeward by the rigors of the wintry 
blast. 



Then of the Sieur de Monts and his hardy pioneers, 
under a patent from Henry IV., reaching from Phila- 
delphia to Cape Breton. 

While the English and French crowns were thus grant- 
ing patents of the whole explored region, and settlements 
were being made North and South, a tract lay between 
them claimed by both, but settled by neither. 

This belt of territory was still uncared for by the 
European. 

There still roamed wild beasts through primeval 
forests that shadowed a land genial in clime and rich in 
soil. 

There the untamed red man chanted barbaric runes 
amid dim traditions of his State, unconscious that the 
force of civilization was at hand, as with the sword of 
doom, to drive him from his ancient seats. 

A new nation now appeared in the arena of discovery. 

A people daring, enterprising, persevering — born almost 
in the sea which they had mastered — descendants of the 
ancient Norsemen, whose hardihood they inherited — nur- 
tured amid morass and fen — exposed to icy blasts from the 
North sea and humid exhalations from canal and dyke — 
taught early and ever to battle with nature or to perish — 
where the face of sea and land and sky, pale, sad and 
leaden, gives seriousness to the mind and resolve to the 
character. With a country less than a quarter the size of 
this State, this people, in 1579, had made a nation whose 
character had been formed amid perils and tears and blood. 

For over forty years they had battled with the lierce 
legions of Spain in defence of home and life. 



8 



For <>\(>r forty years they had shown a courage and a 
perseverance, iiiidcr trial and defeat, almost unparalleled 
ill liiiiiiMii liistoi-y, Mild now, the seven "United Provinces 
of (he XctlicilMiids," having established their liberti(;s and 
consolidated tlicir State, were vicing' with tin? other nations 
of lOuropc in schemes of exploration and (hniiinion. 

Their naval power was rapidly augmented. They wrested 
from Spain and Portugal a large portion of their Indian trade. 
Tliey planted colonies in the islands of the East ; they visited 
realms of sun and snow in furtherance of commerce and 
disco\('ry, and became the factors and carriers of Europe ; 
they built up a navy that, at one time, checked the Spanish 
Armada, and at another drove English fleets from the sea, 
and triumphantly sailed up the Thames. 

Ilendrick Hudson now appears upon the scene. 

In April, 1G09, under the direction of the Netherland East 
India ('ompany, and for the purpose of finding a N. AV. 
passage — that great sea problem of the day — he dared the 
perils of the Atlantic in the " Half Moon," of <S0 tons, w'dh 
a crew of 'JO men. After stopping at various places along 
the coast, in Sei)tember, KKM), he brought his little vessel to 
anchor in what is now the bay of New York. 

According to the Indian tradition, on the appearance of 
the " Half Moon," there was great consternation among the 
simpler aborigines who then inhabited the dense forests 
where now this city stands. Some thought it an immensely 
large fish or huge monster of the sea, others that it was a 
very large house. As it continued to move in a threaten- 
ing manner towards the land, couriers were sent off to 
notify the scattered chiefs and their i>eople of the pheuo- 



9 



menon, and put them on their guard, and to gather in the 
warriors. These various Indians arriving in large numbers 
on the Manhattan shore, and viewing the strange object that 
was slowly moving toward them, concluded that it was a 
large canoe or house, in which the great Manitto, or Su- 
preme Being, himself was, and that he was coming to visit 
them. The chiefs then deliberated in council how the 
great Manitto should be received. Meat was arranged 
for sacrifice; the women were directed to prepare 
the best of victuals ; idols or images were anxiously 
examined and put in order, and a grand dancei 
was prepared, as this was supposed to be not only 
an agreeable entertainment for the Manitto, but it might 
contribute to appease him in case he was angry. The con- 
jurors were also set to work to determine what tlie mean- 
ing of the phenomenon was, and what the result would be. 
To the chiefs and wise men of the nation, women and chil- 
dren were looking up in terror for advice and protection. 
Between hope and fear, and in confusion, a dance, that 
great resource of the Indian in difliculty, commenced ; and 
woods and shore rang with the wild and agitated cries of 
the leaping savages and the loud beat of the tom-tom. 

Scouts coming in declare the object to be a house of 
various colors, and crowded with living creatures. It now 
appeared certain that it was the great Manitto bringing 
them some new kind of game. Soon there is hailing from 
the vessel in a strange tongue. Many now begin to run to 
the interior woods. The house or large canoe having stop- 
ped, a smaller canoe comes ashore with a nmn altogether 
red from head to foot, and dressed differently from the 



10 



others. In the meantime the chiefs and wise men had 
formed a large circle, and calmly and in resigned silence 
awaited the awfnl visitor. The red-clothed man then en- 
tered the circle, and we find, by the tradition, that the fear 
of the savages presently disappeared nnder the conciliatory 
deportment of the explorer and his men ; and soon, by dint 
of presents and kind treatment, the best understanding was 
established, which was continued on the arrival of the ves- 
sel in the following' season. 

Hudson then began the exploration of the "Great River 
of the Mountains," as it was called, hoping that by it there 
might be a passage througli the continent to the Asiatic 
seas. 

The exi)Iorers have left accounts of their exi)edition up 
the river, and express delight at its size and the beauty of 
the scenery, beginning to be clad, as nature then was, in 
gorgeous hues, shining throngh the soft haze of the atum- 
nal summer. 

Hudson penetrated to the highest point of navigation 
beyond Albany, and was a month in his exploration. He 
sent an account of his voyage to his Dutch employers at 
Amsterdam, stating, among other things, that " it is as 
beautiful a land as the foot of man can tread upon." 

We can imagine the surprise and consternation of the 
savage tril)es that lined the banks as the little " Half 
Moon," gigantic to them, cautiously crept on its way up 
the " River of the Mountains " — its motley crew peering 
over the vessel's sides to gaze upon the wonders and beau- 
ties of the strange laud, and lialf mistrusting the savages 
that gazed back at them from the shore. The daring com- 



11 



mander, " the man clotlied all in red," we may picture 
reposing- himself, after his long and anxious sea voyage, 
on the lofty poop, smoking, perhaps, some of the raw to- 
bacco just got from the Indians, and viewing the noble 
river that was to bear his name. Now he watches the smoke 
curling up from some wigwam in glade or dell, now admires 
the frowning battlements of the Palisades, now passing 
in wonder under the shadow of the " Dunderberg," or the 
lofty " Crow Nest," or the bold headland since called, as 
tradition narrates, St. Anthony's Nose, after the nasal 
organ of Anthony de Hooge, Secretary of the colony 
of Rensselaerswyck, and marvelling at the depth of the 
pellucid stream as the little ship wound cautiously through 
the weird gorges of the highlands, and gazing with the de- 
light of a traveller as he approached the lofty range of the 
Kaatskills, whose crests, illumined l^y the sun, came peering 
through the moving clouds. 

Anon, a shot from a Oulverin plows through the glassy 
stream and awakes the silent forests. 

The startled deer rush l)ack to iiuier glades ; and wolf and 
otter, and fox and bear, and basking snake, retreat to den 
and brake. The eagle shrilly screams, and wheels a further 
flight, while echoes prolonged resound from shore to shore, 
and proudest chief, and squaw, and child fall down in dread 
as they see the lightning flash from the moving house, and 
hear the sharp thunder that shakes the silence of their an- 
cient abodes. 

A quaint extract from an account, written by Robert 
Juet, one of Hudson's mates, shows the friendly intercourse 
2 



12 



established by Ilndson with the red Dian as lie weut up the 

river, aud the ready iiiaiiiici' with which they took to the 

white man's liery drink, soon the bane of their doomed 

race : — 

"In the afterno(^n our master's mate went on land with 
an old savage, a (Uovciiior of tlu^ Counti'ie, who carried him 
to his house, and made him o()od cheerc. * * * * The 
People of the Countrie came flocking aboard, and brought 
us grapes and l*omi)ions, which we bought for trifles. * * * 
Our carpenter went on land and made a foreyard ; and our 
master and his nnitc; determined to trie some of the chiefe 
men of the countrie, whether they had any treacherie in them. 
So they took them down into the cabbin, and gav<^ them so 
much wine and A(/na riUc that they were all merrie ; and 
one of tlunn had his wife with him, which sate so modestly 
as any of our country women would doe in a strange i^lace. 
In the end one of them was drunke, which had been 
al)oard of our shii» all tiie time; that we had been there; 
and that was strange to them, for they could not tell how 
to take it." 

'I'lie Indians, we read, i-e(Mprocated their good treatment 
by bringing oysters, and flsh, and wampum, and other tri- 
butes on board. 

On Hudson's return down the river, the Indians, becom- 
ing more familiar with the moving house, were more in- 
cline<l to hostility, ])ossibly under some provocation given. 
Their warlike an<l \enturesome spirit was also aroused to 
try conclnsions with the strange race; and we read further, 
in duel's jonnial, this brief account of the flrst conflict and 
bloodshed between th(^ wliite and red man on these shores, 
when gun])owder, the new cixilizing agent, was employed: 

"This afternoon one canoe kept hanging under our 
Sterne, with one man in it, which we could not keep from 
thence, wIm^ got up by our rudder to the cabin window and 



13 



.stole out my pillow and two shirts, and two Bandeloers. 
Onr master's mate shot at him, and stroke him on the brest, 
and killed him ; whereiii»on all the rest tied away, some in 
their canoes, an<l some leapt out of them into the water. 
We manned our boat and got our things agaiiie. Then one 
of them tliat swanime got hold of our boat, thinking to 
overthrow it. But our eooke took a sword and cut otf one 
of his hands, and he was drowned." 

Another trouble occurred about otf the ])resent Nyack, as 

the vessel was descending the river : 

" At break of day," Juet recounts, " we weighed, the 
wind being at N. West, and got down 7 lejigues. Then the 
flood was come strong, so we anchored. Then came one of 
the savages that swam away from us at our going up the 
river, witli many others, thinking to betray us. But we 
perceived their intent, and sutfered none of thein to enter 
tlie ship. Whereupon two canoes full of men, with their 
bows and arrows, shot at us after our stern ; in recompense 
whereof we discharged six muskets, and killed two or three 
of them. I'hen above a hundred came to a point of land 
to shoot us. Then I shot n falcon at tliem, and killed two 
of them ; whereupon the rest fled into the woods. Yet they 
manned ofl* another canoe with 9 or 10 men, which came to 
meet us. 8o that I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it 
through and killed one of them. Then our men with their 
muskets killed 3 or 4 more of them. So they went their 
way." 

Hudson's account of the beauty and fertility of the 
region, and the rich iieltry to be obtained there, aroused 
the attention of his Dutch employers, who immediately 
started expeditions with a view to settlement and trade. 

Voyages were undertaken, at private risk, in 1610 to 
1012, to trade with the Indians at and along the river 
" Mauritius," as it was called after Prince Maimce, and a 
few houses or huts erected. 



14 



A trading liouse was also established on Castle Island at 
the west side of the river, a little below the present Albany, 
and called Fort Xassan. 

Fii 1(114 a charter or monopoly of trading' was granted 
by the States-General to an Amsterdam Association, and 
the territory was ]'ecognized for the first time under its new 
name of "Xieuw Xederland," which comijrised the region, 
as set forth in the charter, between " New France and X'n- 
ginia, the sea coasts whereof extend from the 40th to the 
4r)th of latitude." 

In 1G21 an exclusive cliarter, with almost sovereign 
powers, was given to the Dutch West India Company. 
This company immediately began the business of active 
colonisation and the construction of buildings for the occu- 
pation of the colonists, and sent out cattle and farming 
materials and implements. By the charter the West India 
(-'ompany became the immediate sovereign of Kew Nether- 
land, subject to the general supervision and control of the 
States-General, in whom tin; ultimate sovereignity resided, 
and to whom allegiance was sworn. 

The colony was ]»u! under the government of a Director 
and Coun<'il, of wIkhh the (Jovernor or Director was 
dircclly commissioned by the States-General. The Coun- 
<il was appointed by the Director with the approbation 
of the Company. 

AVe read that Peter Minuit, one of the early directors, in 
1()2G, purchased the island of Manhattan, for the Company, 
from the Indians, for sixty guilders, or about twenty-four 
dollars. 

This amount seems not a very large one for the City of 



15 



New York, but, on compounding- tbe interest, it reaches at 
this time about the sum of one hundred and forty millions 
of dollars. 

The sum of twenty-four dollars, paid in wampum, was 
doubtless quite satisfactory to the Eed man, who had most 
of the Continent at his disposal ; and it is to be remarked 
that the dealings of our Dutch ancestors with the aborigines 
was characterized by a rigid regard for their rights, what- 
ever they were, and no title was deemed vested and no 
right absolutely claimed, until satisfaction to the savage 
owner was made. 

The City of New York at this time, that is to say at 
fourteen years of age, consisted of less than two score 
rudely fashioned log-houses extending along the southeast 
shore, together with one or two buildings of greater import- 
ance belonging to the Company, including a simple block 
house for defence against the red men. 

Time will not allow us to go into details of the little 
colony under its successive directors, May, Verhulst, Minuit, 
Van Twiller, and Kieft, extending from 1624 to 1647. 

The sturdy colonists battled with the wilderness that 
surrounded them and maintained their little settlement 
amid danger and privation. 

They threw the charms of home and family and j)eace 
where for all time had been rude nature and barbaric life. 
Industry, thrift, and order gave cheerful aspect to the scene, 
and made success to follow labor. 

Little " bouweries" or farms began to spring up even on 
adjacent shores, and the Metowacks on Sewan-hacky (Long 
Island), and the Monatons on Stateu Island (Monaclcnong), 



16 



and the Sanhickans on the Jersey shore, looked on in won- 
der at the novel implements, the docile cattle, and the 
steady industry of the white man, who soon, with fruit and 
flower jnid golden grain, gave bloom and beauty to the 
barren hind. 

Little clearings now were made among the more favorite 
situations on the Island along the Ilel-gat or East river, 
and tinie-scnried oak and sturdy beach and elm began to 
fall before the woodman's axe,that penetrated and resounded 
through the hitherto silent mysteries of the woods, and 
drove back beast and bird to inner shades. 

Tlie size and prosperitj^ of the settlement rapidly in- 
creased under thrift and perseverance. Lands were given 
to settlers, religious freedom guaranteed, and the tide of 
immigration began rapidly to flow. 

Of course, while these earlier settlements were being 
made, the present city and county presented a highly rural 
aspect. A dense forest covered the middle and upi)er por- 
tions of the region, where lived the red man in primitive 
barbarism. 

Brooks, ponds, swamps, and marshes cliMracterized other 
portions of the Island of tlic " Manhattocjs." Lofty hills 
were on the sil(^ of )>;u'ts of Beekman nnd i-'erry streets, on 
both sides of Maiden Lane, and on the present site of parts 
of Nassau, Cedar, and Liberty streets. 

A range of sandy hills traversed the city from about 
the corner of Charlton and ^'arick to the junction of 
Eighth and Greene streets. N^ortli of them ran the 
brook or rivulet called by the Indians Mijietta, and by 
the Dutch " I^estevaer's Killetje," or Grandfather's Brook, 



17 



which, coursing through the marshes of Washington 
vSquare, emptied into the North Eiver at the foot of 
Charlton street. 

A chain of waters extended from James street at the 
southeast, to Canal street at the northwest. A ditch and 
inlet occupied the place of Broad street. Extensive meadow 
or marsh land, known subsequently as Stuyvesant meadow 
or swamp, extended from 14th street down to Houston 
street. 

N^ear the present Tombs in Centre street, was a large pond 
or lake of fresh water, subsequently called the "7L«/c/t-/«oec/i:," 
with verdant hills and sloping banks. This pond was con- 
nected with the East Kiver by a rivulet called the Versah 
Water, or fresh water, running eastward and crossing Chat- 
ham between Pearl and Roosevelt streets. An extensive 
swamp extended north of the present Laight street, subse- 
quently called Lispenard's swamp or meailows, and joined 
the Kalck-hoeck to the north of that i)ond. 

A marsh also lay between Exchange Place, William and 
New streets, called the " Compa)iy\'i Valley,'''' whose waters 
were drained by the great ditches in Broad and Beaver 
streets. 

A swamp or marsh also extended over parts of Cherry, 
James and Catharine streets ; and what was subsequently 
Beekman swamp covered what is still known as " The 
Swamp," over the region about Ferry and CJliff and 
Frankfort streets. 

The lower i)art of the island was luxuriant in v(^rdure, 
rolling and well watered, and invited the colonist to rest 
there not only by its propinquity to navigation, but by su- 



18 



l)erior fertility luuX aptitude for culture, and the picturesque 
beauty of its situation. 

Wolves lojiincd at large through the wilderness H(nth of 
the present park ; and as late as 1()85 we read of a guber- 
natorial proclamation, speaking of the mischief done by 
wolves, and giving permission to any inhabitants on the 
Island of Manhattan to hunt and destroj^ them. 

On the unsettled portion of the island continued to dwell 
and follow the chase, the fierce tribe of the Man-hattas. 

Oft the infant colony was startled by the wild hoops of 
the red man and the rush of the game, as wolf or deer or 
hare, in the ardor of the chase, was driven into the cluster 
of cottages that constituted the first settlement on the 
island. 

Subseciuently, difficulties with the red men at times 
l)rought rapine and ruin. The desolating war with the 
Indians, initiated through the unwise policy of Gov. Kieft, 
lasted nearly five years, with hardly a temporary cessation, 
and "Nieuw Amsterdam" became nearly depopulated. 
Scarcely one hundred able men besides traders could be 
then foiuKl. Father Jogues, a Jesuit Father, travelling- 
there in 1(M3, speaks of the sufferings of the inhabitants 
from the miu'derous attacks of the red man as " grievous 
to see." 

During the period above referred to, colonization by the 
English had been going on in Xew England. The colonies 
of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and New 
Haven were established in succession, and occasional com- 
munication took place between their officials and the Dutch 
Governors on the " Manhattoes," which was conducted with 



19 



great courtesy and kindness. In answer to a letter from de 
Easieres, the Dutch Secretary, which, as a tribute of neigh- 
borly kindness, was accompanied by " a rundlett of sugar 
and two Holland cheeses," William Bradford, the Gov- 
ernor of Plymouth in 1027, expresses himself as follows : 
" It is our resolution and hearty desire to hold and con- 
tinue all friendship and good neighborhood with you as 
far as we may and lies in our power. * * * We cannot 
likewise omit (out of our love and good att'ection toward 
you, and the trust you repose in us) to give you warning 
of the danger which may befall you, that you may prevent 
it ; for if you light either in the hands of those of Virginia, 
or the Ashing ships which come to Virginia, peradventure 
they will make prize of you, if they can, if they find you 
trading within their limits ; as they surprised a colony of 
the French not many years since which was seated within 
their bounds." 

These communications, although always courteous, and 
generally friendly, even when the home governments were 
at war, we find always accompanied by a protest or claim 
by the English that the Dutch were occupying their pos- 
sessions without legal claim or right, and in opposition to 
the English title ; while the Dutch as persistently retaliated, 
asserting their claim as founded on Hudson's discovery 
and a continuous occupation. 

I propose now to take a stroll about the City of " Nieuw 
Amsterdam," sometimes called the town of the " Manha- 
does," or " Manhattans," or of the " Manatthanes," the capi- 
tal of j^ew Netherlands, somewhere about the iieriod be- 
3 



20 



tween 1058 and 1000, under the administration of his Ex- 
cellency Petrus Stuyvesant, the last of the Uutch Gov- 
ernors, and a few years before the surrender of the province 
to tlic IOn,i;lisli. 

The Governor had returned successful, two or three years 
before, from his great campaign against Fort Casimer and 
l'^)rt Cliristina, and the Swedish settlements on the South or 
Delaware Kiver ; the Indians had been awed into submis- 
sion, and with the exception of an occasional disturbance 
by the malcontents among the English settlers on Long- 
Island, or a cloud of apprehension that was contiiuially 
low'cring from New England on the vexed question of ter- 
ritorial rights, the little city was progressing in peace and 
prosperity. 

New Amsterdam at this time contained but 220 houses 
and a population of about 1,400, among whom it is said 
there were spoken eighteen different tongues. The greater 
l)art of the houses were of wood, covered with reeds or 
shingles, some of them with wooden chinuieys ; others, of 
a more pretentious character, were built of little shiny, 
yellow, glazed bricks, baked in Holland, variegated with 
blacker bricks of (piaint cross and checkerwork design, and 
were roofed with red and black tiles. 

There were a few residences built of stone, as were the 
company's store-houses on Winkle street. Nearly all of 
these houses were placed with their gable ends towards the 
street ; the end of the roofs rising to a peak in successive 
steps. 

Surmounting all was that great comfort of a Dutchman, 



21 



revered at home through sad experience of broken dyke 
and sea barrier — the weathercock. 

These primitive mansions were placed in a straggling- 
manner — some in thoroughfares, and some at random — 
about the quaint little town, which was then mostly coni- 
l)rised in the species of semicircle made by Wall street and 
the East and ]!^orth Elvers. 

If we could have penetrated the best room of one of the 
better class of the residences of this olden time, we would 
have beheld an interior in which the inherited order, thrift, 
and cleanliness of the race was pleasingly manifested. 

Outside, under projecting eaves, was the " stoep,''^ the place 
of social interchange and domestic repose. 

The bulls-eye in the door, and the small size of the lower 
windows, indicated a residence amid peril and ai)prehension 
of the savage foe. 

Within, the well-scrubbed snow-white floor is covered 
with linest sand drawn in figures and festoons. Above, the 
polished oaken rafters are cut in quaint device and motto. 

Through the glass doors of the nutwood cuijboard shine, 
glittering in the sunlight or by the blaze from cheerful 
hearth, the generous pewter tankard and two-eared cup, aud 
portlj^ dram mug, and silver porringer and ladle — relics 
brought from the old sea home — and Delft ware tea-pot and 
bowl, and a few tiny china cups, wherein the social bohea 
is often dealt out to apijreciative guests, who knit and gos- 
sip between the frequent sips. 

At one end, in an alcove, is the great four-posted family 
bedstead, the pride of the house, the family heir-loom, en- 
deared through associations with the past, ou which rest its 



22 



two beds of down, and chintz flowered curtains, and intri- 
cate patchwork (inilt, and silken coverlid — triumphs of do- 
mestic thrift and handicraft. 

In another place is the great cedar chest, where reposes 
the valued store of household linen, snow-white and sub- 
stantial, the o()(m1 housewife's hereditary dowry, increased 
by industry, and destined to be ai)portioned among the 
blooming iiiaideus of the household, when some Jan or 
IM'eter or Jacobus can muster courage to ask them to leave 
the i)aternal roof. 

Extending almost along the breadth of the room is the 
great lire-place of those days, in whose ample embrasure 
would gather the children and the cats and dogs, and the 
old negro slave croning out his stories on the long winter 
eve. 

Brass-mounted irons support the blazing pile of solid 
logs. In front is a brazen fender of intricate design, sent 
over by Holland friends. 

Scenes of Scriptural history are illustrated there by the 
little blue tiles that line the chimney-piece — Jonah's ad- 
ventures, and Toby's travels, and Sampson's exploits — 
while oil tli<' lofty mantle, covered with flowered tabby 
chimney cloth, stands tlie hour-glass, the old l>iV)le with its 
brazen cihIs and clasps, the well-burnished family warm- 
ing-pan, the best pipe of the master of the house, and his 
trusty swonl and flre-piece, that had often helped to defend 
his hoiiic — tliat had done good service in the expedition 
against the savages, with old Jan de la Montagnie, at 
Heemstede, when Kieft was director — that had fought 
with ScrLLcaut Kodolf at Pavonia — that had flourished 



23 



ill the great ciimpaigii against the castles of Weck- 
quaesgeeks, in the valley of Saw-Mill Greek — and that had 
participated in the bloodless victory over the Swedes on 
the South river. 

In one corner stands the fire-screen, with its gay designs ; 
in another the best spinning-wheel, curiously inlaid. 

Against the wainscoated walls is the round tea-table, 
with its turned-up leaf, the benches in the windows, and in 
prim array, each in its accustomed place, are the high- 
backed chairs of Eussia leather, adorned with double rows 
of brass-headed nails, one or two covered, perhaps, by em- 
broidered back and seat, and trimmed with lace — the work 
of the dexterous fingers of the good house-wife herself, in 
earlier days. 

On the walls might be seen a little mirror in a narrow 
ebony frame, and also so framed a few engiavings of Hol- 
land social life, jiortraits of some Dut^ih magnate, or 
scenes of naval fight — the taking of a galleon from hated 
Spain, or a broadside conflict between two high-pooped 
frigates. 

Here, too, was the loom from which was made the home- 
spun cloth that clad the good man and his boys, and made 
stout petticoats for the girls. 

These humble homes were scenes of placid joy and con- 
tent. N^o artificial pleasures lured from the domestic 
scene. The family circle formed a tie of strength, where 
all were attached, occupied, and happy. 

Industry kept oft' the attacks of weariness and the in- 
road of vice ; and the scenes of beauty that nature ex- 
hibited around them — the sports of the chase — the arrival 



24 



ofiinotlier ship IVoiii Amsterdam, with its varied goods aud 
budget of IOiii'oj>ean news — the rumors of an Indian war or 
tidings from the New England colonies — kept tlie inhabi- 
tants of the little town far from the stagnation that routine 
often brings o rural circles. 

\\'(' will begin our perambulations, if you please, at about 
the present corner of Broadway at the head of Wall — 
at the old city gate, called the Land-gate, closed nightly b}^ 
the city watch, where was the outlet from the city walls or 
palisades, called the " Oi>i</67," running a little north of the 
line of the present Wall street. These palisades were ori- 
ginally erected for defence against the savages, under 
Governor Kieft's administration, and subsequently 
strengthened in 1G53, when a war was threatened with 
New England, and a ditch aud rampart constructed 
inside. 

We now turn our face down what is modern Broadway, 
then called the " Heere Straat.''^ We pass the present site 
of Trinity Church and Church-j^ard, then th(; West India 
Comi^any's garden, running- to the river ; on which, on a 
bank overhanging the stream, were the locust trees, the 
resort of lad and lass for sentimental walk. Here they 
viewed together the glories of the bay, illumined with beams 
of setting sun, or whispered hoi)es under Dian's light, and 
listened to music of the wave, breaking over what was 
then the pebbly shore. 

Below, on the west side, were the picturesque mansions 
and gardens and peach orchard running to the river of the 
Srhont Fiskael, Hendrick Van Dyck, whose rosy daugh- 
ter, Dicwcitie, might be se«Mi looking over th(? low-cut 



25 



door. Then came the fine brick house and orchard of 
Burgomaster Vandiegrist. 

Then we pass the okl Dutch Ohurch-yard or burying- 
ground of the settlement, just above the present Morris 
street, where many of the rude forefathers of the hamlet 
still lie — the sturdy xjioneers that bore the toil and battle 
of the earlier time, and carved the way for empire. 

Even at this time, in digging foundations in that part of 
the city, is found some disregarded relic of a former sturdy 
life. 

This venerable abiding place of the earlier dead was sold 
in building lots, under the advancing spirit of the age, in 
1677. 

In a goodly house near by dwelt the revered Dominic 
Megapolensis, of whom we shall have something to say by 
and by. Also, hereabout, some on the west and some on 
the east side of the street, were Peter Simkan the tailor, 
and Jan Joostan the skipper, and Jan Stevenson the 
schoolmaster, and the tavern of the doughty captain and ex- 
burgomaster, Martin Oregier, who, reposing after his varied 
campaigns, was still ready for the tented field. 

On the east side of Broadway, going down from Wall, 
the houses were rather of a meaner order ; the proximity of 
the marsh, or Company's Valley, called " Schaap Waytie," 
or sheep's walk or pasture, a swampy meadow surrounded 
by hills, running from Wall street and Exchange Place to 
Broad and Beaver, not making the east as desirable as was 
the west side. One of these hills was called " Verletten- 
berg" Hill, and terminated the little canal that led up Broad 



26 



street. This iiaiiic was subsequently converted into " Flat- 
tenbaracli" Hill. 

The iiioxcnient of the cattle from the highways to this 
meadow made the then rural path, or schaap-icai/tie, which 
now is known under the more business-like title of Ex- 
change Place, and was known, under the English rcyime, as 
Garden street. 

This region was drained by the ditches dug on the site of 
Broad and Beaver, which ditches were the humble origin of 
these two time-honored streets. 

We now pass on our left what was known as the old 
ditch, the " Bever-graft" or " .s^mrtY," which, east of Broad 
street, was known as " Be Frince-graft " or " straaV On 
this street lived many well-to-do citizens, whose national 
instincts caused them not to dislike a little muddy water. 

Passing down Broadway, we come to what was called the 
" Obli(|ue Road," also the ^^Marckrelt-steegie,^^ or the ^^Mai'ket- 
fieJd path," now still Marketfield street. This road or path 
led from the Broad street canal to the marclcnlt or market- 
place, which was opposite the present Bowling-green, com- 
mencing on tli(5 east side of Whitehall street, near Stone 
street, and extending as far up as Beaver. 

Here was a bus.\ and bustling place. Besides the market- 
place on the east, there was the Fort at the foot of Broad- 
way, just south of tlie present Bowling Green, and the 
parade; in front. 

There, also, towards the Xorth river, near Battery Place, 
was the great town windmill, to which farmers carried 
their wheat in ox-drawn wains, or on the backs of some of 
the shaggy horses that were allowed to browse and roam 



27 



Unchecked around the woods on the upper part of the 
island. 

Here was a sort of business and social exchange, whence 
was distributed the news from Xew England or Holland, or 
the last gossipy rumor of the town — where the Domine's 
last sermon was discussed, and where the Burgher's rights 
were upheld in argument against the invasions of the 
Governor. 

At the Marcla-elt was held, also, the great annual cattle 
fair, in October, and beasts driven from Straatfort and 
l^ew Haven, and Suidhamp'on and Oosthampton, might be 
seen in competition with those raised on the island, or 
transported from Heemstede and Esopus and Kensselaers- 
wyck, from Oost-dorp (in Westchester) and Bust-dorp (now 
Jamaica). 

Another market was held on Saturdays at the vStrand, 
near the house of Dr. Hans Kierstede, then on the north 
side of Pearl street, at about the foot of Moore street, where 
was the weigh-house and the little dock, then the only one 
in the town. 

At these two markets flocked the country folk, some for 
purchase, some for sale ; coming in farm carts or on horse 
and pillion, or from the Jersey or Long Island shore by the 
ferry, or in their own boats. Here bustled the housewife, 
battling for a bargain with obstinate vendors from 
" Gamoenepa ; " here stood the dusky Indian with his 
wampum belt; and here the substantial burgher inter- 
changing views with some financial wise trader — mayhap 
the price of beaver skins, or a sudden rise in clay pipes. 
4 



28 



Anohoicd in tlic inlet in Broad street, and at the little 
dock on the Strand, might be seen the shallops and canoes 
of Indian and country people from Long- Island, bringing 
to tlie markets veal, pork, butter, cheese, roots and straw, 
raised on tlu^r well-^^illed farms; and there was venison, 
and milk, and tobacco, and peaches, and jxnk, and smoked 
"twaeflt," or striped bass. There, too, are "(iouanes" 
oysters, not less than a foot long, as recorded in a journal 
kept at this period, and cider, and herbs, and melons ; and 
here is Indian maize or Turkey wheat, brought by the Cor- 
chaiuf, the Hecataiiff, or the Najack Indians from their homes 
on Long Island, from which maize was made the favorite 
Indian paj) or mush, called '^ Sapaen''^ — also extensively 
adopted by the Dutch, and still known by that name 
among us moderns. 

Here, too, in rather short but voluminous petticoats, hob- 
nail shoes, woollen stockings, and kirtle and hood, are the 
sturdy farmers' rroiurs, gathered from " Breiwkelen''^ and 
Vluktc-bos (Flatbush) ; and buxom lassies from Ahasimtis, 
and Jlohol.rn-IIacliuf/^ and New rtreeht, and Neir Amers- 
fooiuU (Flatlands), and Ompoge (Amboy), in elose-cpiilted 
caps and liead-bands, and heavy gold earrings, and copper 
shoe buckles, vending, and bargaining, and chatting; and 
there are stout farmers from Sapokanican (now (xreenwich), 
and from the new village of "New Haerlem," and from 
Missingen (now Flushing), and from Boomptie's Hoeck, 
come to buy cattle or poultry, or seeds for their farms. 

There are also drovers from the English settlement on 
the Sonnd, who, in their little trading-sloops, had nuittered 



29 



gofxi Puritan prayers as they passed through the trials and 
perils of the " Hel-gat." 

There also, in the season, were "elft" (the modern shad), 
and the water terrapin, whose good qualities were known, 
even in those days, by the City officials, as testifies Coun- 
sellor Van der Donck, who writes, in lOoO, " Some persons 
prepare delicious dishes from the water terra[)in, which is 
luscious food." 

At the little dock, or in the canal in Broad street, we 
may also see canoes of the Marechkawick Indians living 
between Niemv Amersfoort and Breuckelcn, bringing wild 
turkeys, and quail, and white-headed wild geese, and coots, 
and whistlers, and blue bills, and pelicans, and eel shove- 
lers. 

Jan Evertsen Bout, too, is there from " (lamoenepa ;" 
Farmer Verplanck, too, is there from " de Smit's Am ley," 
now Pearl street ; and Hermanns Smeeman, from Bergen ; 
and Jan Pietersen, from Meuw" Haarlem; and (ieorge 
Holmes, the Englishman, from his tobacco plantation at 
" Deutle,^^ now Turtle Bay ; and Peter Hartgers, the trader, 
from the Heeregraft ; and Daniel Denton, from Heemstede ; 
and one or two Tappaen Indians from the Hudson river, or 
a " Sint Sing," with skins of fox and squirrel, or wolf; 
and perhaps a Karitan or a Hackingsack might be there, 
with the spoils of the chase, from the Jersey shore ; and a 
Maquaa, with beaver skins, from the valley of the Mohawk. 
The various little boats and sloops take back, at the close 
of the day, medicines, Barbadoes rum, called by the Dutch 
" KUl-dcvil ,-" also muscovado sugar, " arrack " for their 
punch, and, doubtless, some " Olykoeks" and ginger-bread 



30 



for tlio little people ; and fresh ribbons and caps for Sun- 
day wear; and stout linsey woolsey stuffs, and perhaps 
some new pipes to please old (iranny in the chimney 
C(^rner. 

The medium of exchange between buyer and seller, at 
these ancient markets, was of a various character. Some- 
times it was beaver, or other skins ; sometimes grain ; some- 
times Dutcli guilders, or stuyvers ; but the favorite currency, 
preferred by both Dutch colonist and Indian, as well as by 
the r^nglish settlers — in fiict, the great common basis of 
trading — was wampum, ASVifaw, or Sewaut. 

The best was made by the Indians on Long Island, or 
Sewan-hackey. That was rated as the truly genuine cur- 
rency, and found its way over all the marts of trade then 
establislied in North America. 

A fathom of wampum, so called, was as much as a man 
could reach between his outstretched arms, and was equal 
to about four guilders. Strictl}^ speaking, Sewant was the 
generic name for the money. Wampum was the white, 
and Suckauhock the black beads, which were double the 
value of the white. The white was made from the stem or 
stock of the periwinkle, now seldom found; the black, or 
pm-plc, from the inside shell of the hard clam. It was made 
into beads strung on the sinews of animals, and polished. 
Three beads of black, or six of white, as a general thing, 
efjualled a Dutch stuyver, or English penny. This was at 
about par, although there were as many fluctuations and 
commercial panics affecting this currency as we in these 
days experience with gold coin. 

As ail illustration of the varied money for the payment 



31 



of labor at the time, we read of a contract made, in 1(155, 
between Egbert Van Borsiim, the ferry man on the Long- 
Island side, under which the carpenters were to be paid 550 
guilders (about 220 dollars) : one-third in beaver skins, 
one-third in good merchantable wampum, and one-third in 
good silver coin, and small beer to be arunk during work. 

We now come to the Fort^ pride and glory of New Amster- 
dam, emblem of home authority, local manifestation of that 
great sovereign power, their High Mightinesses the States- 
General — around whose walls the earliest memories of the 
settlers clustered — on whose bastion floated the tlag that 
recalled the brave Fatherland — before whose walls, on the 
parade, were drilled the little armies of two or three hun- 
dred men that weut out to bjittle — under whose protecting- 
power the young hamlet had nestled, and spread, and grown 
— that still, even with its few and ancient cannon, and 
crumbling* earth works, and broken bastions, exposed from 
the river and commanded by heiglits within, bade stern 
defiance to both civilized and savage foe. 

The first Fort was a mere block-house. 

The second Fort was commenced in 1G33, and constructed 
of earth works. It was bounded by the present Bridge, 
Whitehall and State streets, and the Bowling- Green. It 
had four points or l)astions, with no moat outside, but was 
enclosed with a double row of palisades. 

Originally called Fort Amsterdam, under the Dutch; 
subseciuentl}" Fort James, under the Duke of York; changed 
by Gov. Oolve, on the Dutch restoration, to Fort Wilhehn 
Hen d rick ; changed by (lov. Andros, to Fort Jam<'S ; by 
Leisler, to Fort William ; by Sloughter, to Fort William 



32 



Henry ; and afterwards called Fort (leorge — its nomencla- 
ture exhibited the varying fortunes and history of New 
Amsterdam. 

Several brick and stone dwellings were located within its 
walls ; among tlicm tlic governor's brick house, and the 
chuicli built of stone ; a windmill was at one of the l)astions, 
and a liigli Hag-staif, on which the orange, yellow and blue 
colors of the " Privileged West India Co." were hoisted when 
any vessel was seen in tlie bay. 

During the Indian war, brought about by the unwise and 
aggressive policy of Governor Kieft, in IG41, the inhabitants 
fled to the shelter of the Fort, and established their huts as 
near as possible to the protecting rami)arts. These build- 
ings subsequently remained; and grants of land were 
made to the holders. Thus was formed a portion of the 
present Pearl street next to Whitehall street, and also a 
portion of the latter street. 

Those were perilous times in the " Manhadoes." 

All the farms and exposed habitations about the Island 
were destroyed, and their panic-stricken inhabitants were 
driven into the Fort, where the garrison was not over iifty 
or sixty men. 

Tlic plantations aboul Westchester and Staten Island, and 
the blooming " bouwerijs " on the East river, and on the 
line of tlic present Chatham street, and at Hoboken, 
Hacking, Pavonia, Navisink, and Tappaen, wcmc laid 
waste, and almost every settlement on the west side of the 
Iligldands was destroyed and the inhabitants slaughtered. 

The ureal dramatic event connected with the historv of 



33 



the Fort was its capitulation to the English in 1 0(14, in a 
time of peace between England and the Netherlands. 

Charles II., as is well known, had given a patent of a 
large territory to his brother, the Duke of York and Albany, 
comprehending Long Island and all the lands and rivers 
from the West side of the Connecticut river to the East side 
of Delaware Bay. 

In September of 16G4, accordingly, while the colony was 
under the direction of Gov. Stuyvesant, Col. Mcolls, the 
Deputy-Governor appointed to reduce and govern the 
province for the Duke, with scarcely note of warning, ap- 
peared in the bay with a fleet of four ships of nearly 100 
guns, and a body of 500 regular soldiers, besides sea- 
men. New Englanders also swelled the invading force, and 
the services of Long Island settlers and savages were also 
engaged. 

The Dutch colony was quite unprepared to contend with 
such a force, the Fort being in a dilapidated condition, 
manned by only 250 soldiers, and commanded by hills with- 
in pistol shot. 

The little garrison accordingly capitulated, with the 
honors of war, on the 8th of September. The Governor 
protested against the act, wishing to light to the last, and 
exclaiming to the citizens requesting him to surrender, " I 
had much rather be carried out dead ! " 

The conclusion of Gov. Stuyvesant's re])ly to the sum- 
mons of the J]nglish to surrender the town, against which 
they threatened the miseries of war, is worth recalling : 

" As touching," he writes, " the threats in yonr conclnsion 
we have nothing to answer, only that we fear nothing but 



34 



what (i()(l (who is as just as iiiei'cifiil) shall hiy upon ns ; 
all things being in Ifis gracious disposal ; and we may as 
well he preserved by Him with small forees, as by a great 
army, which makes us to wish you all happiness and pros- 
perity, and recommend you to his protection. 

" My lords, 
"Voui- thrice humble and attectionate servant and friend, 

"P. 8TUYVESANT." 

A (li;uuatic picture suggests itself, representing a part of 
the English fleet in the bay between tlie Fort and Xiitten 
(now (iovernor's) Island, with its guns trained against the 
old fortitication, whose tiag was still tlying in the Summer 
breeze; the otluM' ships landing their ti'oops just below 
Breuckelen, there combining their forces with the English 
militia from New l^ngland, and crossing the river in boat 
and barge. 

The stout old Governor, standing on one of the outer 
bastions of the Fort, an artilleryman, with lighted match, 
at his side, waiting the approach of the invaders. A throng 
of the notables of the city, Hurgomasters, and Schepens? 
and liurghers, all begging him to surrender-, and exhibiting 
the hopeless condition of Xew Amsterdam, "encompassed 
and hemmed in by enemies," where defense was impossible, 
and the two Domines Megapolensis, father and son, im- 
ploring him not to commence hostilities wdiich mnst end in 
destruction, and finally leading him between them, pro- 
testing and sorrowful, from the ramparts. 

The Dutch soldiers marched out of the old Fort, accord- 
ing to fli(^ terms of capitulation, with their arms fixed, 
drums beating, and colors flying, and matches lighted, down 
Beaver lane to the AVaterside, and embarked for Holland. 



35 



The English flag was hoisted over the Fort, which then be- 
came Fort James, and ^^ Meuw Amsterdam ^^ ^^ New York^ 

After its surrender to the English, the little town settled 
down, with Dutch stolidity, under its English rulers, whose 
government was kindly. For eight years it pursued an 
even course under a Mayor and Aldermen, instead of a 
Sellout, Borgemeesteren, and Scliepetien, until, on the war 
breaking out between the English and the Dutch in 1(372, 
it was retaken by the latter. 

ISTew York thereupon was re-christened by the Dutch 
Governor Oolve "New Orange." The name of New Nether- 
land was restored, and the old fort was re-christened Fort 
" Wilhelm Hendrick,^^ in honor of the Prince of Orange. 

On the subsequent peace, however, between England 
and Holland, in 1G74, the region of New Netherland was 
finally ceded to the English. 

Gov. Andi'os took possession for the Duke and re-christ- 
ened "New Amsterdam" as "New York," and the fort 
again became '■''Fort James.'''' 

The fort was also the scene of stirring events during the 
times of anarchy when Leisler was dictator. 

Here, with his own hand, the self-constituted Governor 
had fired one of the fort guns at the King's troops, as they 
stood on parade, and in a sort of desperate infatuation 
began to batter the town. 

The old fort, during English colonial times, was the scene 
of gubernatorial state and show, and here too were fired 
salutes for His Majesty's birth-day, and for victory over 

Frenchman and Spaniard. 
5 



36 



The fort was also the scene of stirring- events during oui* 
revohitionary period, and changed its flag under the for- 
tunes of the war. 

At length, when jjeace had been established in the land, 
the services of this venerable servant of Bellona were con- 
sidered no longer necessary by the " Mayor, Aldermen, and 
Coinuionalty," whose utilitarian spirit, in 17SS, caused its 
final destruction and removal. And now no remnant remains 
of this ancient structure, that rose witli tlie settlement of 
our island, and saw and shared its changing fortunes. 

The Church. 

Situated in the fort was the Ohiu-ch, where the purest 
Calvanism, as determined by the Synod of Dort, was dis- 
seminated successively by Doniine Michaelius, Domine 
Bogaidus, Domine Backerus, and Domines Megapolensis 
and Drisius. 

The earliest church services of the colony had been held 
in a spacious room or loft over a horse mill ; and religious 
services were at first conducted l)y a ^^ Krank-hesoekvr" or 
consoler of the sick. This room was replaced by a plain 
barn-like wooden structure in 1G33, situated on the north 
side of the present Pearl street, near Whitehall. 

Under Governor Kieft the increasing population of the 
settlement required better accommodations, and the colon- 
ists came t«j the determination that their New England 
brethren, who had erected fine meeting-houses in their 
various settlements, ought not to excel them in this matter. 

In 1042, a church edifice was accordingly begun, and 



3< 



placed within the foit for greater security against the 
attacks of Indians. 

The subscriptions for the new church were accomplished 
during a merry-making at the marriage of a daughter of 
Domine Bogardus, and the Governor thought wisely that 
the hilarity incidental to such an occasion would stimulate 
the generosity of the wedding guests. A chronicle of the 
time tells us that, after the fourth or fifth round of drink- 
ing, his Excellency, Governor Kieft, started the subscrip- 
tion with a large sum of guilders, and the rest followed his 
example and " subscribed richly." " 8ome of them," says 
De Vries, a then sojourner at the settlement, "well 
repented it, but nothing availed to excuse." 

This Church had twin roofs side by side, and upon the 
gable end, toward the water, there was a small wooden 
tower with a bell, which called the good people to their 
devotions, and was also rung on occasions of warning or 
rejoicing. There was no clock, but a sun-dial on three 
sides, and the tower was surmounted by the usual weather- 
cock. 

Domine Everardus Bogardus came over in 1633, with the 
new Governor Van Twiller. The Domine was a prominent 
man in those days, next only in importance to the Gov- 
ernor, with whom he was often at loggerheads. Soon after 
his arrival he was smitten by the attractions of the widow 
of Eoeloff Jansen, then the possessor of the fine farm on 
the Hudson, and now favorably known to us as Auneke 
Jans. The Domine led to the hymenial altar that histori- 
cal personage, of whom we shall have something more to 
say by-and-by. The Domine was oft:n in contention with 



38 



tlie goveruors of the period, aud is recorded, when excited 
under a difterence of opinion with Governor Van Twiller, 
to have addressed that functionary as a "Child of the 
Devil." 

Bogardus was continually at swords-point, also, with 
Director Kieft. Kieft charged the Domine with continual 
intoxication, jind a love of strife and slander, and with 
what must have cut him to the (piick, of preaching stupid 
sermons; and sent missives to him of tlneat and denuncia- 
tion, and divers orders to show cause why he should not be 
removed, which orders the Domine treated with open con- 
temiit. 

The Domine, on the other hand, fulminated against the 
Governor from the pulpit and elsewhere, and denounced 
him as a consununate villain ; and declared that his (the 
Domine's) goats were a superior animal to the Director ; 
and boasted, on one occasion, that he would give the Direc- 
tor frojn the pul]>it, on the next Sunday, such a shake as 
would make tliem both shudder! Kieft in retaliation, and 
to drown the Domine's auathema'i, would also, at times, 
have the drum beaten and the cannon discharged from the 
fort outside the church during service. Those were, 
indeed, trying times ! 

The Domine, also, was (|uite a litigant, and the gossips 
of the dny nuist have been rarely exercised o^er their tea- 
cu])s with the details and progress of an action brought by 
him against Anthony Jansen Van Salee, as husband and 
guardian of his wife, Grietie, for slandering the Domine's 
wife. It seems Mrs. Anneke Bogaidus had, on one occa- 
sion, iinitlcasHiitly lalked about Madame Van Salee ; where- 



39 



upon Madame Van Salee bad said that Madame Bogardns, 
in passing througli a muddy part of the town, had displayed 
'her ankles more than was necessary. Under the judgment 
of the Court, Madame Van Salee had to make declaration 
in public, at the sounding of the bell, that she knew the 
minister to be an honest and a pious man, and that she 
had lied falsely. She was further condemned to pay costs, 
and three gulden for the poor. This treatment might not 
be amiss for petty gossips even at the present day. 

The Domine, also, was defendant in a slander suit 
brought against him by Deacon Oloif Stevenson Van Oort- 
landt, which was of long duration ; and the attention of 
the little town was divided between these stirring events 
and divers troubles with the New Haven and Hartford 
colonies in the east, occurring about the same time. 
Domine Bogardns was finally drowned, together with his 
old opponent, ex-Director Kieft, they having together sailed 
in the shij) "Princess" for Holland, which was wrecked off 
the English coast in 1647. 

Domine Backerus succeeded Domine Bogardns when 
Stuyvesant became (lovernor, in 1G47, but left in a year or 
two, being succeeded by the learned Johannes Megapo- 
lensis, with whom was subsequently associated his son 
Samuel, and Domine Drysius. 

We may present to ourselves, for a moment, a picture of 
a congregation of our Xew Amsterdam predecessors, 
gathered together for a morning service in the church in 
the old fort ; Jan Gillesen, the Mink, or bell- ringer, is 
lustily pulling at the sonorous little Spanish bell, captured 
by the Dutch fleet from Porto Pico, whose sounds roll 



40 



gently o'er hill and meadow, and reach the settlements on 
the Long Island shore. The morning snn is shining 
brightly over the bay, which glistens through the trees that 
are scattered over the verdant field that rolls between the 
bay and the fort, whih' tlic cottages, with their high-peaked 
roofs, and the windmill by the fort, and a few sheep grazing 
in the distance, give a varied aspect to the peaceful scene. 
All labor has ceased, the song even of birds seems hushed ; 
and the calm repose of the Sabbath seems to pervade the 
very air, and gives to Nature an additional serenity and 
repose. The neatly-clad people, in family groups, slowly 
and sedately wend their way through road and rural lane 
to the house of worship — some on foot, others on horse- 
back, or in vehicles, some landing in boats from distant 
settlements or neighboring farms on either river. 

Nicassius de Sille, the city " Scliout,^^ accompanied by 
Hendrick A^an Bommel, the town crier, is going his rounds 
to see that all is quiet and conformed to the sacredness of 
the day ; to keep the lazy Indians and negroes from fight- 
ing or gaming, and the tapsters from selling li(|U()r. In 
front, and on the side of the fort, is a concourse of waggons 
and horses ; souk; animals let loose to graze on the hill-side 
that ran towjivds the water ; others drinking from the 
trough supplied by the well before the fort ; others cared 
for by the negro slave boys, who, juoud of their charge, 
walk them to and fro, and occasionally take a sly ride from 
a c(miplaisant animal. 

Now, preceded by old Glaes Van Elsland, the Marshal 
of the Council (who also fulfilled the functions of sexton 
and dog-\vliij)p('r), and niarcliing between the bowing 



41 



people up the aisle, we behold him whose presence repre- 
sents the " High and Mighty Lords, the States-General of 
the United N^etherlands, His Highness of Orange, and the 
Noble Lords the Managers of the privileged West India 
Company " — no less a personage, in fact, walking with a 
cane, sturdy and erect, in spite of his wooden leg, than his 
Excellency De Heer Directeur Generaal Petrus Stuyvesant, 
Governor of Nieuw ISTederland, accompanied by his wife? 
the lady Judith, walking stately and prim, as becomes her 
position as wife of the great Director ; and by her side old 
Dr. Johannes de la Montagnie, ex-Oouncillor, and now 
Vice-Director at Fort Orange (Albany), who has come down 
on a visit to talk about state affairs. 

Following the Governor is the provincial secretary, Cor- 
nelius Van Ruyven, and his wife, Hildegonde, a daughter of 
Domine Megapolensis ; and here are the " most worship- 
ful, most prudent, and very discreet," their mightinesses 
the Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam, an- 
swering to what are now the mayor, aldermen and common 
councilmen. Preceding them to their official pew, with 
their velvet cushions brought from the Stad Huys, or City 
Hall, is old Matthew de Vos, the Town Marshal. 

Walking in portly dignity are the Burgomasters, Oloff 
Stevensen Van Cortlandt and Paidus Leedersen Vandie- 
grist ; and the most worshipful Schepens, Cornelius Steen- 
wyck, Johannes de Peyster, Peter Wolfersen Van Couwen- 
hoven, Isaac de Foreest and Jacob Strycker, 

Following them we observe Allard Anthony and Isaac 
Bedlow, the prosx)erous traders ; and Joannes de Witt, the 
miller and flour merchant ; and Dr. Hans Kierstede, with 



42 



bis wife Sura, who was a daughter of Mrs. Auneke Jans 
Bogardus. And here is Madame Cornelia de Peyster, wife 
of the Schepen, with her golden-clasped psalm-book hang- 
ing from her arm by its golden chain ; and the wealthy fur 
trader, Peter Rudolphus de Vries, and Margaretta Harden- 
brook, liis biidc, who, imiv years hiter, married the lively 
young carpenter, Frederick Phillipse, he, who a few years 
later became also Lord of Phillipse Manor, on the Hudson, 
by the Pocantico creek or Mill river, just above Tarrytown. 
And there was the great English merchant, John Dervall, 
and his handsome wife, Katherina, the daughter of Burgo- 
master Oloff Stevensen Van Cortlandt, which lady, in after 
time, also became a wife of and brought a large fortune to 
the same lucky Mr. Frederick Phillipse, who then sat 
humbly in the back benches, little dreaming of the good 
fortune that was awaiting him by his marriage with the 
neighboring two rich widows. And here is the substantial 
merchant, Jeromimus Ebbing, and the widow de Huller, to 
whom he was betrothed, daughter of old Johannes de Laet, 
one of the original proprietors of Rensselaerswyck ; and 
Madame Margaretta de Eiemer, formerly Gravenraedt, 
just married to Schepen Cornelius Steenwyck ; and Mrs. 
Catherine de Boogh Beekman, daughter of Captain de 
Boogh, then running the smartest craft on the river, which 
Mrs. Catherine was married to Wilhelmus Beekman, Direc- 
tor on South river. And here is the widow of the late 
Secretary, Cornelius Van Tienhoven, whose hat and cane 
had been found in the Xorth river, which was the last seen 
of the most unpopular man in Nieuw Amsterdam. 



43 



Now enters Mrs. Elizabeth Backer, formerly Yau Es, the 
great fur trader ou the Heere-graeft, followed by her little 
slave boy, Toby, carrying her New Testament with silver 
clasps. 

And here, also, is the young baronet, Sir Henry Moody, 
sou of Lady Deborah Moody from " Gravesende,''^ she who 
left the Massachusetts colony because of her views on 
infant baptism, and who had twice defended her house 
against savages in the troublous times. 

And come also to hear the Domine are some of the Van 
Curlers and Gerritsens and Wolfertsens and Stryckers, from 
New Amersfoordt (Flatlands) ; and the Snedekors and El- 
bertsens and Van Hattems, from " Ylackebosli " or Midwout 
(Flatbush) : and old Lubbertsen Vanderbeck from Breuche- 
l6)i; and Eapeljes and Duryees and Oershous, from the 
Waalhoght. 

Aud then follow the rest of the good citizens of the place, 
both those of the great and the small citizenship, the 
"Groote Burgerrecht" and the "Kleine Burgerrecht"— Dirck 
Van Schelluyne the notary, Vanderspiegie the baker, whose 
two little girls subsequently married, one a DeForeest, and 
the other Rip Van Dam, the Colonial Lieutenant Governor ; 
and burly Burger Jorisen, the patriotic blacksmith from 
Hanover Square, the last man, live years later, to advocate 
resistance to the English, and who abandoned the city in 
disgust after the surrender. 

And then Pieter CorneUus Vanderveer and Mrs Elsje, his 
wife, the daughter of the great merchant, Govert Locker- 
mans, which Mrs. Elsje subsequently married the unfor- 
G 



44 



tuiiate Jacob J^cisler. Behiud Mrs. Vanderveer were her 
lively sisters, Marritje and Janiietje, and near by, casting 
sheep's-eyes at the former, was Master Balthazar Bayard, 
whom she subsequently married. 

Alter the Domine's exhortation was finished, and a 
prayer from Doniine Drysius, and a psalm had been sung, 
led by Harmanus Van Hoboken, the schoolmaster and 
" zieken-troo.ster,^^ or choir-leader, whose voice the widow 
Marritje Pieters particularly admired, the members of the 
congregation wended their way over street and path and 
meadow to their respecti\'e homes. 

The ladies dolled their Sunday finer}^ and set to work 
in hearty preparation of the noontide meal. 

The last we hear of the old Chiu'ch is the finding of the 
stone which had been placed, when it was building, over 
the door in front. The '^ew York Magazine, in 1790, re- 
cords the finding of this venerable relic in these words : 

"June 23. On Monday last, in digging away the found- 
ation of the fort, in this city, a square stone was found 
among the ruins of a chaijel (which formerly stood in the 
fort), with the following Dutch inscription on it : ' Ao. Do. 
M.D.OXLII. \y. Kieft, Dr. Gr. Neeft de Gemeenten dese 
Tonpd doen Buuwm: In English : 'A. D. 1G42. Wm. 
Kieft, Director Oeneral, hath the Commonalty caused to 
build this temple.' " 

This stone was removed, it is reported, to the Reformed 
Dutch (.'hurch in Garden street, now Exchange Place, 
where it a\ as destroyed in the great fire of 1835. 

Quitting the Fort and the Marckvelt, we proceed down 



45 



the rest of the modern Whitehall street, a part of which 
was included in the Marckvelt 

A part of Whitehall, north of Stone, was also subse- 
quently called " Beurs straat,^'' or Purse street. 

On this street stood the Governor's house, built of stone 
by Stuyvesant, and called, under the English, the White- 
hall, which gave the modern name to the street. The 
grounds extended to the river, where was a dock, to which 
was moored the Gubernatorial State barge. 

Crossing Whitehall is Stone street. This street, between 
Broad and Whitehall, was originally " Bronwer straat ;" 
between Broad and Hanover square, and up Pearl to Wall, 
it was called " Hoogh straat,^^ High street, also " the road to 
the ferry," it being the nearest direct route from the Port to 
the Long Island ferry. The roadway thus made to the 
ferry was the origin of this street. 

The ferry road was continued through Hanover square 
and Pearl street to about the present Peck Slip, wliere were 
the primitive boats of the ferry of those days. 

On Bromcer straat lived many of the most prosperous 
citizens. Several breweries there gave its name to the 
street. 

We now come to Bridge street, which was the second 
street laid out or occupied as such. This street was called 
" De Brugh straat,^^ or Bridge street, from its leading from 
the Fort to the bridge across the canal, which ran 
through Broad street. 

Wincliel street lay i)arallel to Whitehall, between the 
present Pearl and Bridge streets. On this Winckel 
street, or iShoj) street, were five substantial stone store- 



46 



houses, belonging to the Dutch West India Co. This 
street lias now disappeared, there being no thoroughfare to 
rejiresent it. 

We eonie next to what is the present Pearl street. Pearl 
street formed the original bank of the East ri\ er — Water, 
Front and South streets liaxing been all 8ubse<|uently re- 
claimed an<l Imilt. Here was the tirst settlement; and 
some thirty or forty little bark or wood houses, clustered 
along the baidv of the river south-east of the Fort, were the 
nucleus of this great city. 

IJetANcen Whitehall and liroad streets. Pearl street was 
called the Strand, '' T Water;' or at "the waterside." A 
portion of this street, between State and Whitehall, was 
also called " Paerel straat.^'' 

Between Broad street and Hanover Sipiare it was known 
as at the ICast river ; also " Dc Waal;' hemg so called from 
a wall or siding of boards to protect the street from the 
washing of the tide. 

On Pearl street, between Broad and Whitehall, in the 
vicinity of the lanuing-place, were the residences of the 
I)rincii)al traders and merchants. 

The old " StaiU-liu(jH>' or City Hall, formerly the City 
Tavern, stood on the ijresent northwest corner of Pearl jind 
Coenties Alley. It had a cupola and a bell, which was 
rung on great occasions, and for the sessions of the Burgo- 
masters and Schepens, and on publication of new laws. 

This old ^^ Stadt-huys'" was sold at auction in 1G99, and the 
new City Hall erected about 169S, under the English rule, 
on Wall street at the head of Broad. 

The report of a trial held in the old '^S'/r(r?^/»f<^.s■," before 



47 



the Court of Burgomasters and vScbepens, has come clown 
to lis. It exhibits the original and primitive manner in 
which legal points were raised and justice dispensed, in 
that early time. 

Jan Haeckins was plaintiff and Jacob Van Couwenhoven 
defendant. An abstract of the rei)ort reads thus : The 
plaintiff demands pay from defendant for certain beer sold 
according to contract. The defendant says the beer is bad. 
Plaintiff denies that the beer is bad, and asks whether 
people would buy it if it were not good ? He further insists 
that the beer is of good quality, and such as is made for 
exportation. Couwenhoven denies this, and requests that 
after the rising of the bench the Court may come over and 
try the beer, and then decide. The parties having been 
heard, it is ordered that after the meeting breaks up the 
heer shall he tried ; and if good, then Couwenhoven shall 
make payment according to the obligation ; if otherwise, 
the plaintiff shall make deduction. 

Near the junction of the modern Pearl street and 8tone 
street, was what was then known as Burger Jorisen's path, 
or Burgher's path, in the vicinitj'^ of the present Old Slip, 
so called after the sturdy blacksmith who lived there. 

We next in our peregrinations come to Broad street. 

Broad street was called ^Ule Heere graff^ and ''^ Br cede 
graft,'''' also the Common Ditch. 

Above Beaver street Broad street was de " Prince graft " 
and ran into the '"'• Scliaep way tie,''"' or sheep pasture, before 
spoken of. 

Our Dutch ancestors, of course, were not happy without 
a canal, and accordingly a miniature one was easily 



48 



arranged out of the Broad street ditch ; a little estuary 
also rau in there from the Bay. The ditch or canal ran up 
beyond Beaver street, and also branched to tlie Avest, into 
Beaver street. Its sides were ]i)lanked in about the year 
1057. 

Up this canal were rowed and fastened the boats from 
the farms and market gardens on the opposite shores of 
Long Island, and the Boinveries, on the East and North 
Eivers. 

The ditch in Broad street was not filled until after the 
English occupation in 1676. 

We now come to the modern William street. 

William street below Wall to Pearl was " Since Straat,^^ 
afterwards Smith street. 

South AVilliam street was formerly "*S7?/o/t Steegliie^'' or 
"Dirty Lane," subsequently "Mill Street Lane;" there 
being a mill erected in the lane, which was originally a 
cul de sac, leading from Broad street to the mill. 

We have now again reached Wall street, at the foot of 
which is the Water poor i or Water gate, closed at bell-ring- 
ing at nine in the evening, and oi)ened at sunrise. 

We may for a moment picture to ourselves an assemblage 
of the good jx'ople of Xew Amsterdam, gathered together 
at the w idow Mietje Wessels' tavern on Pearl street, near 
Broad, on the celebration of some festival day, say that of 
their i)atron. Saint Nicholas, on the 6th of December, or a 
celebration of the ^^Niemc Jaar''^ or New Year. 

The assemblage embraces all classes of the citizens. The 
distinctions of wealth and rank are not drawn so sharply 
as in larger communities, but a sympathy of interests and 



49 



of dangers binds together the little settlement, gives 
stronger ties to fellowship, and produces a comx)arative 
social equality. 

The oil lamps and the dipped candles are flickering gaily 
from the snowy whitewashed walls of Madame Wessels' 
large assembly-room, and the fresh sand is arranged in gay 
festoons around the well-scraped floor, carefully prepared 
by the widow's daughters Jannetje and Hendrickje. Old 
Mingo, the Governor's black slave, who has been lent for 
the occasion, is tuning his fiddle for the dance ; while on 
benches around the room sit many of the dignitaries and 
high officials of the settlement. 

We take a glance at the gentle sex as it assembles. 

We see complexions fair, features regular, and counte- 
nance placid — the invidious might call it somewhat inani- 
mate. 

The figure is not tall, but healthy and generous. Nature 
is allowed to have her sway, without unseemly pressure 
or restriction. 

The hair is bound close to the head with a small cap on 
the back, leaving the dainty ear exposed with its ponderous 
gold or silver earrings. Large plates of thin gold project 
from each side of the forehead, and in some cases there is 
a plate in the middle. 

Necklaces, too, hang around many a snowy neck, and 
at the sides of some hang embroidered purses, with silver 
ornaments and chain. 

Gowns of thick silk, heavily embroidered, with waists of 
a rotundity that would startle a modern Venus, encase 
forms that though substantial are agile in the dance, as the 



60 



glowing- and shiny faces, after tlie active capering then in 
vogue, amply attest. 

Some wear slioit petticoats, of fine blue or scarlet cloth, 
or of some gay striped design. Coat-tails, of a darker hue, 
project ill the rear, and colored hose, with lively clocks on 
the side, encase liml)s which attest the solid charms that 
result from health and exercise. 

Some of the more elegant dancers wear petticoats of 
quilted silk, of varied hue, embroidered with filagree in 
silver or in gold. 

The elderly ladies have about the head the crape or 
tartanet " samare''^ then in vogue. 

The gentlemen appear in homespun, serge, or kersey, or 
colored cloth; some in velvet or silk breeches, and coat 
flowered with silver, with, perhaps, gold or silver buttons, 
and lace neck-cloth, and silken stockings ; shoes W'ith 
buckles of copper or silver, as suits the wearer's taste or 
means; and some with steel or silver-handled sword 
hanging by the side. 

Among the young Juffers or misses, we notice Mar- 
grietjc \'an Cortlandt, subsequently Mrs. Jeremias Van 
Rensselaer, daughter of the notable burgomaster, Oloft' 
Stevensen V^au Cortlandt, who is walking with becoming- 
dignity about the room, with his little boy Johannes. 

We notice, also. Captain Martin, Cregrier's pretty 
daughters, Li/sbeth and Tri/ntjc, with their young brother 
Fraus, who has proudly on his arm Miss Walburg de 
Silla, with whom the bans had just been published. 

Further on is de Heer Dirck Van Cleef, the prosperous 
trader, and his wife Geesje, and their two little people 



51 



from the Cingel, the little girl in a mob-eap and long ear- 
rings, and the little boy in knee-breeches and silver- 
buckled shoes. 

And there is the fine lady of the day, Madame Ann 
Bayard Verlett, wife of Captain Mkolaes Verlett, formerly 
Ann Stuyvesant, a relative of the Governor, and her three 
sons, Balthazar, Pieter, and Nikolaes, by her first husband, 
Samuel Bayard, all of whom became famous men during 
the English colonial time. 

With Madame Bayard is her relative, the beautiful 
Judith Verlett, who, a few years later, when visiting Hart- 
ford, was arrested as a witch, and only delivered from the 
clutches of the ungallant Puritans by the most earnest 
action of the Governor. Now her witchery is exerted 
upon her attendant swain. Master Nikolaes Bayard, whom 
she subsequently married. 

Walking with some dignitary of the day, is the proud 
Juffrouw Antonia Van kSlaghboom, Arent Van Oorlaer's 
wife, who assumed her former name to show her descent, 
as being of the house of the Slaghbooms. 

Talking with the Imde, Mrs. Domine Drj^sius, we 
behold Domine Johannes Megaijolensis and his wife, 
Mrs. Magteldt, near whom is her son Samuel, the young 
Domine, who has just graduated with honor at Harvard 
University, and her other sons, Dirck and Jan. And 
there, too, is lier daughter, Hillegond, carrying her head 
pretty high, for she is married to no less a person than 
Cornelius Van Ruyven, the Colonial Secretary. 

And here is the elegant Margareta de Riemers, now the 
7 



52 



bride of Coriielis Steenwyck, the rich merchaut ; and young 
Wilhelm Bogardiis, a son of the late Domine, walking 
proudly with :\Ii.s.s Wyntje Sybrants on his arm, with 
whom he is soon to enter the bonds of matrimony. 

And there is the Don Giovanni of the period, Geleyn 
Verplanck, who, after many scrapes, finally was per- 
manently captured by the fascinations of Hendrickje, 
daughter of Madame Wessels, then a young miss of 
about fifteen. 

Here also is Jiiffrouw Van der Douck, widow of Adrian 
Vauder Donck, the Patroon or feudal chief of the colony 
of Colon Douck, between the Hudson and Zaeg-Kill, or 
Saw-mill Oreek, who, from his Dutch appellation or fiohri- 
qiiet of the " Jonker," gave its appellation to the modern 
Yonkers. 

And there is Nikolaes de Meyer, and his wife Lydia — she 
that was a Van Dyck, daughter of the rich ScJiout Fisliaal, 
Van Dyck, and at whose wedding it was said a disappointed 
lover, young De Haas, took the lucky bridegroom by the 
throat, and would have strangled him had the guests not 
interfered. 

Leaning on the arm of Jacob Steeudam, the Xew Am- 
sterdam i)oet, we see the gay divorcee, Mrs. Nikolaes de 
Sille, the only recorded phenomenon of that kind in New 
Amsterdam. 

And here, too, is Mrs. Dr. Hans Kierstedt, from the 
Waterside, and her little girl Blandiua, and near them 
Master Pieter Bayard, Avho afterwards married the fair 
Blaudina. 

And there were the lively young fellows, Stoffel Hoog- 



53 



laiidt and Jaii Ter Bosch, and also Gonraedt or Ooentie Ten 
Eyck, tlie <^anner, on the Hare graft, who gave his name to 
Coenties Slip. 

Dancing lustily we see some more of the young girls 
and belles of the period — Gysbertje Hermans, and Tryntje 
Kip, and Maretje Van Hoorn, and Geertruyd Wyngaerdt, 
and Jannetje Hillebrants, and Magdaleentje Van Tellick- 
huysen, and Bellettje Plottenburg ; all then buoyant and 
palpitating with life and joy, now \ anished and numbered 
with the army of the Past. With them, too, is the stately 
Judith Isendoorn, who soon after fell captive to the classic 
wooing of Aegidius Luyck, the Latin schoolmaster. 

Here is bluff Thomas Hall, the English farmer, from the 
" Smits vaUeij,''^ near Beekman street, and Evert Duyckingh 
and his wife Heudrickje, and Johannes Pietersen Van 
Brugh, from the Hoogh Straat, the latter of whom married 
a daughter of Mrs. Domine Bogardus. 

There, also, walking about in uniform, with a proud 
beauty on either arm, is the redoubtable commander. En- 
sign Dirck Smit. He who, with a dozen men, had marched 
through the then terra incognita down to the South or 
Delaware river, to capture a Swedish ship ; who, with a 
little garrison of 50 men, had defended the village of Eso- 
pus from the Indians, and had stood a three weeks' siege in 
the stockades, and who afterwards fought his way through 
the woods and took an Indian fort nine miles inland, just 
north of Esopus, and made the great Indian chief Popo- 
gunaclien to flee before him. 

And there were the rich bachelors Balthazar de Haert, 
Jan Van Cortlandt, and Jacobus Kip, and Johannes 



54 



Neviiis, the Clerk of the Court ; and also Carl Van Brugh, 
the Company's " Opper Koopman " or chief commissary. 

And .Tacol) Melyn, son of the former Patroon of Staten 
Island ; and many more of the lads and lasses of the time 
who we may not further particularize. 

And there were solid rounds of beef, and pork, and veni- 
son, and sapacn and oysters, and Oly-Koecken and Faune- 
Koecken in \'ariety. 

And there was Antigua rum and brandy punch, and 
Fiall, Passado, and Madeira Aviues, and other strong pota- 
tions that suited the stamina of the time — and kept oft' the 
cold of the wintry w^alk or drive. 

The revel, which began at live, was finished by nine — 
when Captain de Pos with his rattle watch began to go 
the rounds — and there was a putting on of woollen and 
cloth wrappers, and "rain cloths," and yellow and red 
" 1()V(; hoods," through which i)eered roguish eyes that often 
invited some enterprising Jan or Dirck to take a New 
Year's smack, on the liome drive to the Bomrcrie — and soon 
the guests were gone, the lights out, and the full moon 
shone down on the glistening snow, piled on high peaked 
roof, and weathercock, and arms of gigjintic windn)ill that 
stood like sentinel over the sleeping town, with no noise 
to break the silence of the night, save its creaking arms as 
they moaned under the blasts from the bay. Swinging in 
the moonlight, too, was the sign at the Widow Litschoe's 
tavern, on the water side, facing the East ri\er, where had 
been another party of a diflerent character. 

There — playing draughts and enveloped in smoky clouds, 
drinking capacious potations to his Mightiness of Orange 



55 



and de Heer Directeiir, and confusion to the red men and 
Spaniards, and swearing big oaths of valor — liad been Hen- 
drick the smith from Bnigh-Straat, and Jacob Schaaf banck 
the jailor, Albert Pietersen the trumpeter, and Hendrick 
Hendricksen, the drummer, from iSmee street, and little Jan 
Jansen Busch the tailor; which latter, being too noisy in his 
demonstrations and pugnacious in his mode of argument, 
Hendrick Van Bommel and Jan Jansen Van Langstraat, 
two of the night watch, were carrying off, kicking and 
roaring, to the jail-room in the Stadt-huys, there to finish 
the evening's amusements until he could resume his wonted 
phlegm. 

Outside of the city walls there were various localities of 
interest, but time will not allow more than a hasty glance 
at a few of them. 

Beyond the " Water-xworf^ and city i^alisades, Pearl 
street was continued along the shore, and bore the name, up 
to about Peck Slip, of the " ^^mifs Y alley " vley^ or valley. 

At about the foot of Peck Slip was the ferry to Long 
Island, where the passenger, if he desired to cross, blew 
the horn hanging there to summon William Jansen, the 
ferry man, who for aljout three stivers, or half a cent, would 
take him over the stream. 

Outside of the city palisades, beyond Wall street, Broad- 
way was called the '•'■ Heere-Wegli.'''' 

Beyond Wall street was the ^'- Maagde-Fadtje,^'' or the 
Maiden Path, which nomenclature was changed to Green 
Lane or Maiden Lane about 1600. 

This lane was, under our Dutch ancestors, a rural shady 
walk, with a rivulet running through it, and sloping hills 



56 



on either side, from one of wliicli looked down .Jan Viuge's 
windmill, on the Damen farm, just north of Wall street. 

South of the Maiden Lane stretched the " Klaaver Waytie," 
or pasture field of clov^er, belonging' to tlie Jan Janseu 
Damen farm ; and near by, a little cascade, formed from 
living streams, fell through the foliage over the rocks, and 
delighted the eye of the poet or lover of the i)eriod, as he 
roamed amid these then sequestered shades. 

We pass Vanderclifte's orchard and (rouweiiberg Hill, on 
part of the present Pearl, Cliff and John streets, then a 
favorite place of resort for the citizen on sultry summer 
afternoons. There he might rest, fanned by breezes from 
the bay, and overlooking the romantic wooded shores on 
the opposite side of the river, and refreshed by a little 
stream that came singing down its rocky bed along the 
I)reseut line of Gold street. 

We pass also Bestevciers Kreupel hosch, or KrippJe Bush, 
since Beekman's Swamp, covering parts of Ferry, Gold, 
Frankfort and adjacent streets, and arrive at the Park, in 
those days called the " Vlaclce,^^ the Flat, or the Commons. 

On one side of this ])asse(l the nniin highway leading out 
of the town to the Bouweries, afterwards known as the 
Post road to Boston. 

To this Common the cows of the inhabitants were driven 
from the city by Gabriel Carpsey, the herdsman, who, as he 
passed along Broadway, Pearl street and Maiden lane, blew 
his horn, and collected the cattle to be pastured, which 
came out lowing from their various enclosures. On his 
return along those streets, each respective cow, knowing 
her home, stood at the gat(> until ndmittod, the herdsman 



57 



again blowing his horn to notify the owner to receive his 
docile animal. 

Passing the corner of Chatham and Duane, we come to 
the fresh-water pond or lake, called the Kalcli-hoech, in sub- 
sequent days corrupted into the Oolleck, or Collect. 

This pond was very deex), one of the most romantic spots 
on the island, and a favorite resort for the angler and the 
pleasure-seeker. 

Where the " Tombs" now looks grimly down on noisome 
Centre street, there was i^resented in those days a charming 
sylvan scene. Lofty hills, clad with verdure and rich with 
varied foliage, surrounded the clear waters of the lake, 
which was fed by rivulets that flowed in through groves 
fragrant with flowers, and musical with the song of birds. 
Little pleasure-houses were placed upon the banks and 
shore, and fairy-like boats skimmed the pellucid waters. 

Here the angler pursued his gentle sport, and here the 
lover of Nature came from the busy haunts below, and 
found repose and solace amid the peaceful scene. 

On this i^ond, in 1796, then 60 feet deep, John Fitch 
paddled, to the admiration of the gazing multitudes, his 
little experimental steamer, about 18 feet long. 

North of the lake stretched the range of marsh land, 
which it was subsequently found necessary to drain through 
Canal street. 

From the Kalck pond a little sparkling fresh water 
stream, called the " Quid Kill,^^ or the " Varsch Water,''^ or 
fresh water, ran over Wolfert's meadow, which covered the 
present Eoo^evelt street, and emptied into the Fast river 
at footcf James street, which stream was covered by a 



68 



bridge at the junction of lloosevelt and (.-hatham streets, 
in I'^nglislj times called the Kissing Bridge— so called 
because a certain salute was claimed there by euterprising 
travellers from their complacent companions. 

Near this was the celebrated tea-water pump, whose 
water was subseciuently carried in carts about the city, 
within the memory of many here. 

North of the Kalck Hoeck pond was land called the 
Werijoe.s, originally granted to Augustine Heermans, in 165] 
— about 50 acres — and for a time a plantation for old negroes. 

In 1044 the woods were partially cleared between this 
plantation and the great Bouwery, where was afterwards 
Governoi- vStuyvesant's house, between the present 2d and 
3d avenues and lOth and 11th streets, about 125 feet west 
of St. Mark's Chm-ch. 

There were five other Boweries or farms that had belonged 
to the Compan}^, between the Chatham S(iuare and S* uy- 
vesant's Bouwerie, that were sold to various individuals. 

The above farms were devastated by the Indians in 1655, 
but subsequently houses were again built on them, and the 
Bouwery road was establised, running at first through dense 
woods. 

We read of one Jansen about this time asking to be re- 
leased from his tenancy of land near the Bouwery, " as he 
had two miles to ride through a dense forest." 

On the west side of Broadway, between Fulton and a line 
between Chambers and Warren streets, and extending to 
the North Kiver, was the West India Company's farm, sub- 
sequently confiscated by the English, afterwards known as 



59 



the Duke's and King's Farm, and bj^ the Grown ceded to 
Trinity Church. 

North of it was the Domine's farm or Bouwerj . This is 
the domain of Mrs. Anneke Jans or Jansen — as has been 
humorously said, " One of the few immortal names that 
were not born to die." 

This lady was born in Holland and came over early ; her 
first husband was one EoelofF Jansen, a superintendent at 
Eensselaerwyck, who subsequently came to New Amster- 
dam. On the decease of Jansen the fair widow was per- 
suaded to re-enter the bonds of Hymen by Domine Ever- 
ardus Bogardus. Subsequently, on the Domine's decease, 
the widow went to Albany, and die:l there in 1683. 

She had eight children, four under the first and four by 
the second marriage. 

Her will is at Albany, dated 29th January, 1663, by which 
she leaves to her children and grandchildren all her real 
estate in equal shares, with a jn-ior charge of 1,000 guilders 
in favor of the children of the first marriage, out of the pro- 
ceeds of their father's place, viz., a certain farm on Manhat- 
tan Island, bounded on the North River. 

This farm had originally been conveyed by Governor 
Van Twiller to Roeloff' Jansen. It was confirmed to Mrs. 
Anneke subsequently by a grant given by Stuyvesant in 
1654, and was again confirmed in 1667 by the first English 
Governor, NicoUs. 

The farm consisted of about 62 acres, running on Broad- 
way from Warren to Duane ; it then left Broadway on a 
northwest course, and ran north along the river. It com- 
8 



CO 



monly w(;nt by the name of the Domiiie's Bowery, the upper 
part above Canal being called the Domine's Hook. 

A majority of the heirs, after Mrs. Anueke Jans Bogardus' 
decease, about the year 1670, made a conveyance of the 
tract to Governor Lovelace, whose interest in the same was 
subsequently contiscated for debt by Governor Andros, 
under orders from the Duke. It was then called the Duke's 
farm, and was subsequently granted to Trinity Church by 
Queen Ann. 

The claim of the heirs who did not join in the transfer of 
the i)roperty, and their descendants, has been asserted at 
different times down to the present day, and a right of es- 
cheat has also been claimed as against Trinity Church in 
favor of the State. 

The heirs claim that the grant of the tract by Queen Aun 
to the Church was invalid, inasmuch as the Crown had no 
title to their portion of it. 

The lirst suit we read of was brought by Cornelius 
Brower, one of the heirs, in 1750, in which he was non- 
suited, and in 17(50 a verdict was rendered against him ; and 
for the rest of the century, in the uewspai)ers of the time, 
are to be found notices of meetings of the heirs for the 
assertion of their claims. 

In 1807 suit was brought by one Col. Malcolm ; one in 
1830, by three of the heirs; and other suits in 1834 and in 
1847, and also since that date, which all resulted in tavor 
of the church. 

We subsequent!}' read of [)rivate meetings and mass 
meetings, at different times, of these irrepressible heirs, 
Avho are now daily increasing, in geometrical i)roportiou. 



61 



At one of the last grand meetings in 1868, in Pliiladel- 
phia, delegates were present from five States, and u^jwards 
of two thousand heirs were represented, and bonds were 
issued to pay expenses. 

A suit, I believe, is now being prosecuted in the Circuit 
Court of the United States, for this Circuit, to recover this 
ancient piece of swamp pasturage, which now is worth 
many millions, but at one time is stated to have been leased 
for the annual rent of two hogs. 

The church title is not, as is alleged by the heirs, placed 
upon the deed from a majority of the heirs in 1070 to the 
English Governor Lovelace, but upon the grant to the 
church by Queen Ann in 1705, and a continuous and open 
adverse occupancy and possession by the church, since that 
time, which possession under a claim of title has made, it 
is asserted, an indefeasible title. 

The heirs in their litigation meet the defence of adverse 
possession — which, by law, in twenty years ripens into a 
title — by the plea that Trinity Church does not hold 
adversely, but merely by a possessorship as tenant in com- 
mon under the deed to Lovelace by a part of the heirs ; and 
claim tlie well-known principle of law that one tenant in 
common holds for the joint benefit of his co-tenants and 
cannot hold adversely. 

North of the Domine's Bouwerie was an extensive swamp, 
and north of that the tract known to antiquarians as " Old 
Janh land ;" being the land of old Jan Celes, a settler from 
jSTew England in 1635. 

Time will not allow me further to pursue my sketch of 
the people and places of this our earlier period. 



62 



A period wliicli seems to increase in interest as it recedes 
into the past. 

Eecent historians have brought forward prominently the 
courage, tlie i)atriotism, and the worth of the Batavian 
people, co-workers witli the Anglo-Saxon in vindicating 
liuiiiaii rights and extending the area of liberty. 

A people, it has been remarked, whose coiuitry, created 
in the midst of marshes, had no solid foundation except in 
the wisdom of her rulers and the untiring industry of her 
people. 

A people whose learning has given to science discoveries 
that have proved of lasting benefit to humanity. 

A people whose patriotism overwhelmed their land with 
the floods of ocean to keep it from invasion, and whose 
courage lias ne\'er given way under oppression or defeat. 

A people who, emerging triumphant from the bloody 
struggle which for nearly half a century had taxed their 
life and their resources, established public schools, and 
gave to Europe freedom of education, of conscience and 
religion. 

A people whose country, in the face of the inhumanity 
and intolerance of the time, was, like the Jewish altar, an 
asylum for the persecuted and opj)ressed ; and w hich, says 
Michelet, was the bulwark, the universal refuge and salva- 
tion, humanly speaking, of the human race. 

While New England was burning witches and torturing 
Quakers, Xew Xetherland was free from delusion, and 
received within its borders ministrants of every creetl. 

When iStiiyvesant, subsecpientiy, began to persecute the 
Quaker, his liaiid was checked. WIkmi, also, he made pro- 



63 



clamatiou ao-ainst outside preaching or conventicles, 
except in conformity with the Synod of Dort, under a 
heavy penalty, he was sternly rebuked by his directors. 

On one occasion, we read that he sought to coerce the 
Quakers at Flushing to conform to his ideas of worship, 
and arrested and transported to Holland one of their prin- 
cipal men, John Bowne. The latter, on appeal to the 
Home Government, returned in 1663, bearing a letter to the 
Governor from the Dutch authorities, re-establishing tole- 
rance in matters of religious opinion, in these memora])le 
words : " The consciences of men ought to be free and un- 
shackled, so long as they continue moderate, peaceable, 
inoffensive, and not hostile to government, Such have 
been the maxims of prudence and toleration by which the 
magistrates of this city, Amsterdam, have been governed ; 
and the consequences have been that the oppresed and per- 
secuted from every country have found among us asylum 
from distress. Follow in the same steps and you will be 
blessed." 

Such were the noble words of this noble land, in opposi- 
tion to the policy of countries that hid the light of science 
in dungeons — that governed through the judgments of the 
Inquisition, and guided minds by the terrors of the sword, 
the scourge, and the anathema. 

I cannot close this allusion to this people, great in all 
qualities that make a nation, without a reference to the 
preamble of their notable Declaration of Independence of 
the Spaniard — issued 1651 — the proto<^ype of our own 
Charter of Freedom. A portion of their Declaration reads 
as follows : " The States-General of the United Provinces 



64 



of tlu3 Xetberlauds, to all who shall see or read these 
presents, greeting: Whereas, it is notorious to every one 
that the prince of a country is established by God as a 
sovereign chief of his subjects, to defend and [)reserve thein 
from all injuries, oppressions, and violences: * # * 
And when he does not do this, but instead of defending 
his subjects, seeks to oppress them, and deprive them of 
their privileges and ancient customs, and to command 
them and use them as slaves, he ought not to be deemed a 
prince but a tyrant ; and as such his subjects, according to 
right and reason, can no longer recognize him as their 
prince. * * i^nt they can abandon him, and choose 
another in his place as chief and lord to defend them." 

I wonder, Mr. President, in view of this nationality, which 
is part of our own, which is sympathetic with us in all that 
constitutes greatness and virtue in nations, which is part 
and parcel of our history and of our blood, — I w onder, I say, 
that while the tlags of 8t. Patrick and St. George, on the 
festal days of those Saints, tiaunt their folds over City Hall 
and public edifices, that, on the festal day of St. Nicholas, 
no banner is seen to recall our ancient historic time. 

Is this ignorance or an incomprehensible partiality ? 

It is sad to reflect that there is not a thing left to mark 
the site of this ancient town, with the exception of the little 
slender scion of the pear tree, that has shivered thi'ough the 
wintry blasts and is now dying, at the corner of the Third 
avenue and Thirteenth street, whilom the site of a part of 
the Bouwery of Governor Stuyvesant. 

In Europe, each locality preserves with a religious care all 
remnants of its early history. 



65 



But here, Time's effacing flugers, assisted by the inroads of 
" Speculation " and Finance, that know no law higher than 
gain, have swept away all visible memento of the past. 

Nieuw Amsterdam has vanished. The names of some of 
the old settlers and denizens, preserved in those of their 
descendants, and a few old records in the City and State 
Archives, are the only tangible proofs of even the existence 
of the old Dominion. 

The quaint little city has passed into history. 
The once busy and hardy people have left no trace of their 
active and earnest life ; and even their grave-yard has been 
built oyer and buried from human contemplation. 

I have thus, Mr. President, endeavored to fulfill my at- 
tempt to present, in a manner, perhaps, too familiar for the 
gravity of this body, a review or sketch of our old city in its 
primeval days, and to group together some of the personages, 
both notable and humble, who preceded us in the occupation 
of our island. 

I have presented to you little that is new, little that is not 
due to the researches of your local antiquarians, at the head 
of whom is our respected member, Dr. O'Callaghan. 

But it seems as if this association, in the midst of 
its more prominently useful researches, would do well, at 
times, to review the incidents of the lives and places of 
abode of the grave, persevering, just men that preceded us; 
to endeavor to keep up a public interest in this the most in- 
teresting period of our local history ; and to hold up to suc- 
ceeding generations the trials, the courage, the industry and 
the virtues of our Dutch ancestors. 






vj LIBRARY OF CONGRESS % 




